HOHOKAM ARCHAEOLOGIST SPEAKING AT ANASAZI HERITAGE CENTER (09-19-12)

DOLORES, Colo. - Laurene Montero, Archaeologist for the city of Phoenix, will share insight into the prehistory of Arizona, especially Pueblo Grande and the Phoenix Basin, at the Anasazi Heritage Center at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 30.

Montero’s presentation is connected to the museum’s special exhibit, “Pieces of the Puzzle, New Perspectives on the Hohokam.” The exhibit is on loan from the Center for Desert Archaeology with artifacts from Pueblo Grande and the Arizona State Museum (Tucson) through Oct. 31, 2012.

Arizona river basins were settled and farmed between AD 1 and AD 1450 by the widespread cultural tradition known as Hohokam. The Hohokam built complex canal systems for irrigation, and their arts and architecture were different from the Ancestral Puebloans of the Four Corners. Ball courts and carved stone incense burners show influence from Mexican cultures of the same time period. The Hohokam produced the earliest pottery in the American Southwest, appearing before AD 300, and likely influenced the development of Colorado’s first pottery in later centuries.

Montero, a professional archaeologist in Arizona since 1989, was the first staff archaeologist for Arizona State Parks, and the first staff archaeologist for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

Montero is based at the Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park. Pueblo Grande is a large prehistoric village site near Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, and a National Historic Landmark. She is currently engaged in researching non-local ceramics found at Pueblo Grande. Her past research includes analysis and interpretation of flaked and ground stone artifact assemblages.

The Bureau of Land Management Anasazi Heritage Center is the headquarters for Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. It includes museum galleries, a theater, and a hiking trail. The facility is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Museum admission is free all day on lecture days.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.